mark.waltz A definite popcorn picture, this farce of the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" variety is funny but forgettable. How forgettable? Well, having seen it 40 years ago, I remembered a lot of it. Does that make it a good film? No. Does that make it funny? Definitely! Famous car racers from around the world get together for an unofficial and unauthorized race cross country, chased by the law, and outwitting them at every turn. Sound like "Smokey and the Bandit", which came out the following year? Well, close, unique enough to stand on its own.This features a huge cast of familiar and not so familiar faces, each getting moments to get funny moments or outwit the law or the other racers. Michael Sarrazin is the official lead, racing out of a boring budget meeting when the "gumball" message comes his way. Raul Julia gets to steal the most scenes as an Italian lothario who has very unique ways of making passes. Harvey Jason is the Inspector Clouseau like motorcycle driver, cursed from the start. Soap diva Susan Flannery follows her fiery jump from "The Towering Inferno" as one of two women drivers, but really doesn't do much but look blonde for the camera. J. Pat O'Malley is one of two British drivers, a lot long in the tooth, but still biting and gnawing.Of course there are others, but I can only mention Norman Burton as the cop out to stop them, and looking like the coyote to the rest of the driver's road runners. It's the cartoonish look and theme of the film that makes me rate it lower than I actually enjoyed it, but it does have more laughs for its absurdities. I also just love the bouncy score, usage of location footage (obviously Manhattan on an early Sunday morning) and some references that only road travelers with appreciate.

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) Before there was "The Cannonball Run" there's "The Gumball Rally". This movie here was a lot of fun, it was full of gags and it gives the meaning of the word "coast to coast". There are like 7 teams racing from New York to California, and the police will do anything to put an end to the race. I liked the part when the team member remove the lugnuts on one of the police cars. So when they try to pull out, it just comes up short of a bust. I also liked the part where Raul Juiia's character plays that cruel gun joke on the victims which the gun looks real it's actually a water pistol. At first it wasn't funny, when the water comes out, that's when everyone starts laughing. The real fun before the race was when he races the toy care all over the woman's body, to me it's rather sexual to me and pleasing to my eyes. In the middle, when the guy got pulled over by the guys lead by Julia, he ripped off the steering wheel of the convertible, removes the guys shades and left him using the bathroom in his car. Now that's really funny! This movie was really funny and highly recommendable, and it's also one of Raul Julia's finest works as well. Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Jim_Gillespie This is a film about driving fast cars, fast. There's enough plot to keep your interest, but not so much that it gets in the way of the action.The tone of the film isn't exactly tongue in cheek, but there's enough humour to be entertaining without really turning it into a comedy.One of my favourite things about this film is the soundtrack, which lets the music of the engines set the mood. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that one scene features a Ferrari Daytona being driven full-throttle through the deserted streets of New York City, with the wail of the engine reverberating from the skyscrapers.The standard of acting is high; the stars for me (apart from the cars) are Raul Julia and Gary Busey as two of the more flamboyant characters. And let us not forget Lapchik, the Mad Hungarian. Well, you don't get normal people participating in endurance events on 350cc two-stroke motorcycles!

directoroffantasies Chuck Bail, a stunt performer on Steve McQueen's "Have Gun, Will Travel", contributed some memorable bits of dialogue to this script. I've lost count of the number of times I and others have repeated Raul Julia's judgment on the rear view mirror, "What's behind me is not important". Inevitably, any spectacularly ugly car we come across "looks like a jukebox". And on and on.Julia, whose participation in this film was not generally cited in obituaries, and Gary Busey were performers whose careers took off afterward.The remainder of the cast consists of moderately well known players, some still to be seen on soaps and occasionally in prime time guest shots. Normann Burton as a New York cop on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Harvey Jason as a bizarro motorcyclist stand out.As is usually the case in movies about automobile racing, lots of expert stuntwork is on display here. Scenes of pure speed, though, do not get in the way of funnymen being funny.